Archinect - News2015-03-03T14:01:02-05:00http://archinect.com/news/article/107714855/mit-s-mindrider-helmet-draws-mental-maps-as-you-bike
MIT's MindRider helmet draws mental maps as you bike Amelia Taylor-Hochberg2014-08-29T14:55:00-04:00>2014-08-29T14:55:09-04:00<img src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/514x/ki/ki1tej55t4vjul8o.jpg" width="514" height="357" border="0" title="" alt="" /><em><p>Originally developed at MIT, MindRider is a new helmet that shows, in real time, how your rides, movement, and location engage your mind. The MindRider app maps and tracks your engagement, and allows you to share your maps with others. These maps provide quantified insight that empower you to maximize your riding experience, and they are a great resource for riding communities and street advocacy.</p></em><br /><br /><p>Unlike many other biometric monitoring devices, the MindRider helmet isn't just about recording your physical activities; it's about harvesting data from normal routines to better inform public policy. The MindRider "reads" electrical activity between the brain's neurons, but the technology isn't invasive enough to determine anything beyond where on the route you're concentrating ("Hotspots") or coasting ("Sweetspots"). For an individual rider, boiling down the data into these two categories simplifies the ride experience, but with enough participants, the service can paint the cycling personality of an entire city, and provide a highly personal way to publicly engage with cycling. Maybe it can even make drivers empathize with stressed out cyclists.</p><p>While the actual helmet isn't commercially available quite yet,&nbsp;MindRider recently reached its&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1168534473/mindrider-maps-nyc-a-mental-picture-of-bike-riding" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Kickstarter</a>&nbsp;goal&nbsp;to create "The MindRider Guide to New York City", a map and guidebook to the city's mental cycling infrastructure. Whether tha...</p>http://archinect.com/news/article/104720996/mapping-the-city-statistic-by-statistic
Mapping the city, statistic by statistic Alexander Walter2014-07-21T17:19:00-04:00>2014-07-22T18:44:08-04:00<img src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/514x/r2/r2d81ebjgjvrsdvy.jpg" width="514" height="514" border="0" title="" alt="" /><em><p>The map, one of the central elements of navigation, has expanded in capability since the form has been translated to digital. Case in point, the MIT Media Lab&rsquo;s &ldquo;You Are Here&rdquo; project is a collection of maps that visualize a variety of datasets over space. Things from bike accidents to coffee shops, graffiti reports, and transit connectivity are all laid out, using a variety of open data and other online resources, such as Google&rsquo;s map directions services API.</p></em><br /><br /><p>Direct link to <a href="http://youarehere.cc" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">You Are Here</a>.</p>http://archinect.com/news/article/100931500/mit-s-newest-invention-fits-all-the-furniture-you-need-in-one-closet-sized-box
MIT's Newest Invention Fits All the Furniture You Need in One Closet-Sized Box Archinect2014-06-02T14:39:00-04:00>2014-06-03T12:44:56-04:00<img src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/514x/95/95fa87633a3491e397a7138a19f225d0.jpg" width="514" height="285" border="0" title="" alt="" /><em><p>What if you only had to buy one piece of furniture to make your tiny apartment abundantly livable?
CityHome, a new project from MIT Media Lab&rsquo;s Changing Places group, promises to make that fantasy a reality. The highly transformable device, loaded with built-in sensors, motors, and LED lights, promises to make a 200 sq.ft. apartment feel three times larger.</p></em><br /><br /><!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd">
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http://archinect.com/news/article/100710717/j-meejin-yoon-appointed-head-of-the-department-of-architecture
J. Meejin Yoon appointed head of the Department of Architecture Archinect2014-05-30T14:55:00-04:00>2014-06-03T22:44:28-04:00<img src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/514x/18/189bff9acbc90e9bd0a1234137a3a23e.jpg" width="293" height="426" border="0" title="" alt="" /><em><p>J. Meejin Yoon, architect and educator, has been appointed Head of the Department of Architecture beginning July 1. The first woman ever appointed to that post, she succeeds Nader Tehrani, who served as department head from 2010 to 2014.</p></em><br /><br /><!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd">
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http://archinect.com/news/article/92317987/mit-s-ad-le-naud-santos-stepping-down-as-dean-of-school-of-architecture-and-planning
MIT's Adèle Naudé Santos stepping down as dean of School of Architecture and Planning Amelia Taylor-Hochberg2014-01-28T18:56:00-05:00>2014-02-19T09:17:55-05:00<img src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/514x/qr/qrdtnu3n0ypbleah.jpg" width="514" height="343" border="0" title="" alt="" /><em><p>[Ad&egrave;le Naud&eacute; Santos] has decided to step down and return to the faculty, effective at the end of this semester. She is the ninth dean of the school and the second woman to hold the position of school dean at MIT. [...]
&ldquo;I have loved this appointment, because I have loved this school,&rdquo; said Santos. &ldquo;The excellent faculty and students I&rsquo;ve had the honor to collaborate with are more MIT than they&rsquo;ve ever been: they&rsquo;re intent on doing interesting research, crossing aisles, and pushing boundaries.&rdquo;</p></em><br /><br /><!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd">
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http://archinect.com/news/article/85220868/mit-research-reveals-the-power-of-placemaking
MIT research reveals the power of placemaking Archinect2013-10-28T15:09:00-04:00>2013-10-28T15:09:57-04:00<img src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/514x/f7/f72a48765e79b30bb4f91ff3054cea1c.jpg" width="514" height="397" border="0" title="" alt="" /><em><p>The MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning released new research that examines the evolution of urban planning and its effects on communities. The report defines placemaking as &ldquo;an innovative approach to transforming communities by creating and revitalizing open, public spaces around the needs and desires of the community.&rdquo;</p></em><br /><br /><!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd">
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http://archinect.com/news/article/83383390/mit-develops-self-assembling-modular-robots
MIT develops self-assembling modular robots Amelia Taylor-Hochberg2013-10-04T18:49:00-04:00>2013-10-04T18:50:07-04:00<img src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/514x/2l/2lw0ty8j5ms3pl38.jpg" width="514" height="313" border="0" title="" alt="" /><em><p>Known as M-Blocks, the robots are cubes with no external moving parts. Nonetheless, they&rsquo;re able to climb over and around one another, leap through the air, roll across the ground, and even move while suspended upside down from metallic surfaces [...]
As with any modular-robot system, the hope is that the modules can be miniaturized: the ultimate aim of most such research is hordes of swarming microbots that can self-assemble, like the &ldquo;liquid steel&rdquo; androids in the movie &ldquo;Terminator II.&rdquo;</p></em><br /><br /><p>
MIT, you've done it <a href="http://archinect.com/news/article/80141432/mit-accelerates-multi-material-3d-printing-software" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">again</a>. And <a href="http://archinect.com/news/article/80158350/magical-sesame-ring-opens-gates-of-public-transit" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">again</a>. A team at CSAIL, MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, has developed M-Blocks -- robotic cubes that can self-assemble into practically any configuration, through a system of carefully aligned magnets and flywheels. Even at their current scale (about the size of an apricot), the M-Blocks could be used to "fill-in" damaged bridges or buildings in an emergency, or serve as adaptive support systems in construction.</p>
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But the smaller the blocks can be built, the more versatile their application -- and the more subtle their shapes. Think of a semi-liquid material that can be poured onto the floor and then spring into the shape of a chair, in whatever design you prefer.&nbsp;The modules could also be outfitted with individual components, like cameras or thermometers, to perform a specific function in the horde.</p>
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Check out the videos below to see the M-blocks in action.</p>http://archinect.com/news/article/70587374/building-a-better-big-box
Building a better big box Archinect2013-04-03T16:41:00-04:00>2013-04-05T14:51:57-04:00<img src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/514x/ba/ba67214dd6febef4b0767f5e0c1372c7.jpg" width="514" height="342" border="0" title="" alt="" /><em><p>D&rsquo;Hooghe, a Belgian-born architect and director of the Center for Advanced Urbanism at MIT, cares deeply about urban form and the large-scale issues cities face in achieving more efficient energy use, better transportation and less congestion. One of his main concerns is better integrating suburbs with the larger metropolitan areas in which they exist.</p></em><br /><br /><!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd">
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http://archinect.com/news/article/67459186/mit-launches-new-research-center-on-advanced-urbanism
MIT launches new research center on advanced urbanism Archinect2013-02-12T18:57:00-05:00>2013-02-27T14:10:07-05:00<img src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/514x/y7/y7fdztd03oqxs9zw.jpg" width="514" height="291" border="0" title="" alt="" /><em><p>Interdisciplinary teams will focus on the planning, design, construction and retrofitting of urban environments for the 21st century.</p></em><br /><br /><p>
Already, the world is becoming predominantly urban. However, the dominant form of urban living will be very similar to our older suburban regions in the U.S. This places substantial pressure on American suburban models, the dominant model of urban development copied worldwide, to set a better example of sustainability. This is even more critical as economic development grows robust middle classes in developing countries who expect more from their living environments.</p>
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To address the urgent need for better models of urban growth, the MIT School of Architecture + Planning is launching a major new research center focused on the planning, design, construction and retrofitting of urban environments for the 21st century.</p>
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Under the leadership of center director Alexander D&rsquo;Hooghe and research director Alan Berger &ndash; professors of architecture and of urban design and landscape architecture, respectively &ndash; the Center for Advanced Urbanism will coordinate collaborations among existing eff...</p>http://archinect.com/news/article/63545280/five-tenets-of-a-new-kind-of-architecture
Five tenets of a new kind of architecture Nam Henderson2012-12-16T20:56:00-05:00>2012-12-29T12:58:02-05:00<img src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/514x/5t/5ttmrfidxbsci7s7.jpg" width="514" height="304" border="0" title="" alt="" /><em><p>So when people look at you know, at the ability to 3D print using a robotic arm, they're very, very curious about the possibility of in the future, printing full scale houses, so I think the media lab and specifically in the Media Matter Group, we don't focus only on efficiency translations. For that, I would open a practice in the commercial world, but that's not the function of this lab...</p></em><br /><br /><p>
Neri Oxman founder of the Mediated Matter group at MIT&rsquo;s Media Lab was <a href="http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1212/09/nl.01.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">recently profiled in a 30-minute segment and interviewed by Dr. Sanjay Gupta</a>. CNN also published a short essay in which Ms. Oxman begins to define a design credo suitable for the contemporary context, wherein the World-as-Machine is replaced by the World-as- Organism. The five components include;&nbsp; Growth over Assembly, Integration over Segregation, Heterogeneity over Homogeneity, Difference over Repetition and Material is the New Software.</p>
<p>
As Bruce Sterling noted elsewhere <a href="http://www.wired.com/beyond_the_beyond/2012/12/architecture-fiction-neri-oxman/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">"</a><a href="http://www.wired.com/beyond_the_beyond/2012/12/architecture-fiction-neri-oxman/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Looks like Prof Neri&rsquo;s working up a manifesto there."</a><br>
&nbsp;</p>http://archinect.com/news/article/59374383/an-app-for-architects-that-makes-physics-easy
An App For Architects That Makes Physics Easy Archinect2012-10-15T18:58:00-04:00>2012-10-18T07:38:25-04:00<img src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/514x/yw/ywqz0h46btzw1h49.jpg" width="514" height="385" border="0" title="" alt="" /><em><p>After seven years of teaching structures to a mixed group of architecture and structural engineering graduate students at MIT, Paul Kassabian found that many of his future architects took a just-enough-to-get-the-homework-done approach to understanding those fundamental components. So he created an app to help them out.</p></em><br /><br /><!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd">
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http://archinect.com/news/article/53694418/what-is-the-future-of-academic-publishing-an-interview-with-gita-manaktala-from-mit-press
What is the Future of Academic Publishing? An Interview with Gita Manaktala from MIT Press Archinect2012-07-17T12:16:00-04:00>2012-07-23T18:58:26-04:00<img src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/514x/f2/f23bea0741fd61e8a4c8db6ab9bdb8e0.jpg" width="300" height="225" border="0" title="" alt="" /><em><p>University presses will endure as long as they are in a position to offer significant value to academic authors and their readers, and as long as they have the support of their home institutions. In the present and near future, we will see new models for the university press including funded open access models, collaborative publishing models, and global partnerships to develop and disseminate high quality scholarship worldwide.</p></em><br /><br /><!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd">
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http://archinect.com/news/article/48459191/understanding-the-resource-intensity-of-cities
Understanding the Resource Intensity of Cities Archinect2012-05-14T17:24:00-04:00>2012-05-15T12:50:31-04:00<img src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/514x/jn/jnadjq7noc08w0k9.jpg" width="514" height="322" border="0" title="" alt="" /><em><p>Urban planning has focused on identifying many important questions about the formation and functioning of our cities. However, there is a lack of understanding about the spatial patterns related to material and energy use in cities. This work attempts to address this knowledge gap.</p></em><br /><br /><p>
urbmet.org is a web-map that illustrates data on material and energy use in cities. The goal is to provide an intuitive way of understanding this complex problem using an interactive interface. We have analyzed 42 cities and estimated material and energy intensities.</p>
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To make this work as useful as possible, we are interested in examining whether this information is presented in such a way that it builds intuition about the functioning of cities.</p>http://archinect.com/news/article/46381939/mit-creates-invisible-glass-that-s-fog-glare-free-and-self-cleaning
MIT creates invisible glass that's fog+glare free and self cleaning Ian Smith2012-04-26T17:45:00-04:00>2012-05-03T12:30:41-04:00<img src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/514x/lw/lwubngnk2g6ph8qq.jpg" width="514" height="399" border="0" title="" alt="" /><em><p>One of the most instantly recognizable features of glass is the way it reflects light. But a new way of creating surface textures on glass, developed by researchers at MIT, virtually eliminates reflections, producing glass that is almost unrecognizable because of its absence of glare &mdash; and whose surface causes water droplets to bounce right off, like tiny rubber balls.</p></em><br /><br /><!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd">
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http://archinect.com/news/article/38746622/app-s-glowing-arrows-guide-you-around-a-new-building
App's glowing arrows guide you around a new building Archinect2012-02-20T12:58:00-05:00>2012-02-20T12:59:06-05:00<img src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/514x/9c/9c20e0915e9e2b87815f536642e03904.jpg" width="300" height="229" border="0" title="" alt="" /><em><p>Developed by Jaewoo Chung at MIT's Media Lab, Guiding Light consists of a wearable badge with magnetic sensors and a software app that makes use of a projector built into many Samsung smartphones to cast arrows onto the ground in front of you as you walk.
The system relies on a map of the building based on fluctuations in its magnetic field, created by the presence of steel in the walls, floor and ceiling. In tests, Guiding Light was able to determine a user's position to within a metre.</p></em><br /><br /><!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd">
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http://archinect.com/news/article/29880497/the-senseable-city-an-interview-with-carlo-ratti
The Senseable City: an interview with Carlo Ratti Archinect2011-12-05T15:06:00-05:00>2011-12-05T15:06:13-05:00<img src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/514x/ca/ca738cea0ef1d165ef6e44176d6524ec.jpg" width="514" height="343" border="0" title="" alt="" /><em><p>Architect, engineer, and director of the SENSEable City Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Carlo Ratti will focus on (you guessed it) the Senseable City&mdash;merging the digital and the physical realms by understanding how we sense and act on our built environment, and how the latter then responds to us.</p></em><br /><br /><!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd">
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http://archinect.com/news/article/9090505/nature-is-a-brilliant-engineer
'Nature is a brilliant engineer' Paul Petrunia2011-06-07T13:00:18-04:00>2011-06-17T04:16:18-04:00<img src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/514x/cd/cd7d2670fc04d60d1d811b0a715d5ef1.jpg" width="295" height="295" border="0" title="" alt="" /><em><p>Haifa-born Oxman, 35, one of the world's leading researchers in the field of digital architecture, is currently studying how our bones are affected by environmental conditions and by the weight that is brought to bear on them, and how such knowledge can be applied in other areas of life. It is known, for instance, that astronauts in outer space lose bone mass because of the absence of gravity, whereas women when they are pregnant develop stronger bones in order to withstand the added load.</p></em><br /><br /><!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd">
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http://archinect.com/news/article/7364119/who-gives-a-crap-sanitation-energy-and-entrepreneurship-in-kenya
Who Gives A Crap? Sanitation, Energy and Entrepreneurship in Kenya Paul Petrunia2011-05-23T13:19:58-04:00>2011-05-24T02:02:55-04:00<img src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/514x/ab/ab826aa2d85a217e9eeb3cbf458fb820.jpg" width="300" height="225" border="0" title="" alt="" /><em><p>Sanergy, a year-old for-profit social enterprise that manufactures high-quality, yet low-cost and compact toilets for urban slums in the developing world and then uses human waste to produce energy and fertilizer. It is an &ldquo;affordable, accessible and hygienic sanitation&rdquo; solution for millions that live in places without sewage or electricity. They are places where the street is the bathroom. And that&rsquo;s precisely the problem.</p></em><br /><br /><!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd">
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http://archinect.com/news/article/6666344/immersive-cocoon-step-into-the-future
Immersive Cocoon // Step Into The Future Paul Petrunia2011-05-17T12:08:00-04:00>2012-10-15T19:33:24-04:00<img src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/514x/27/2751b040e777f5ac5ca0c1643baf9b5f.jpg" width="514" height="289" border="0" title="" alt="" /><em><p>Welcome to the Immersive Cocoon, a surround display dome with sophisticated motion sensor technology that inspired the technology depicted in 'Minority Report'. Now your body becomes the interface, as you are enveloped and your body movement becomes part of this digital environment to make our everyday lives more enjoyable, at least that is what this conceptual project tries to explore.</p></em><br /><br /><!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd">
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http://archinect.com/news/article/6582260/the-mit-150
The MIT 150 Paul Petrunia2011-05-16T18:45:00-04:00>2012-10-15T19:33:37-04:00<img src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/514x/15/1540fbd3d571283a61175a54f73e2d18.jpg" width="178" height="231" border="0" title="" alt="" /><em><p>Some were invented at MIT. Others were simply inspired by time spent at MIT. But all of them (well, maybe not #150) have had a profound impact, in one way or another, on society, culture, politics, economics, transportation, health, science, and, oh yes, technology.</p></em><br /><br /><p>
Check the recently published Archinect feature: <a href="http://archinect.com/features/article/5399391/mit-going-fast-after-150-years" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">MIT, Going FAST After 150 Years</a></p>http://archinect.com/news/article/6118765/joichi-ito-new-mit-media-lab-director-wondered-will-i-fit-in
Joichi Ito, new MIT Media Lab Director, wondered: Will I fit in? Aaron Willette2011-05-12T17:50:00-04:00>2012-10-15T19:33:45-04:00<img src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/514x/ag/agt0hgc0vfbfcfx3.jpg" width="400" height="300" border="0" title="" alt="" /><em><p>Joichi Ito initially thought he wouldn&rsquo;t be a good fit for MIT.
Ito is the new director of the MIT Media Lab, known as a hub of innovation; technologies created there have turned into products such as Guitar Hero and the Amazon Kindle...
WBUR&rsquo;s All Things Considered host Sacha Pfeiffer toured the Media Lab with Ito on his first day at work recently and asked him about his early reservations about his new job.</p></em><br /><br /><p>
Previously: <a href="http://archinect.com/news/article/4159643/joichi-ito-to-be-named-head-of-mit-media-lab" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Joichi Ito to Be Named Head of MIT Media Lab</a></p>http://archinect.com/news/article/4159643/joichi-ito-to-be-named-head-of-mit-media-lab
Joichi Ito to Be Named Head of MIT Media Lab job job2011-04-25T17:55:00-04:00>2012-10-15T19:33:54-04:00<img src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/514x/7z/7z4ovwgx7m88ttos.jpg" width="190" height="221" border="0" title="" alt="" /><em><p>On Tuesday, the university plans to announce that Joichi Ito, known as Joi, will become the fourth director of the M.I.T. Media Laboratory, which was originally founded by the architect Nicholas Negroponte in 1985 and has since become recognized for its willingness to take risks in developing technologies that are at the edge of the computing frontier.</p></em><br /><br /><!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd">
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